Making time to teach amid the abundance of responsibilities for principals is a rare opportunity for many in the role. In a 2017 survey, the National Center for Education Statistics of principals in public schools said they had taught one or more classes that school year. And despite having an average of eight years of principal experience, many in the role had acquired only half as much teaching experience before taking on their administrative roles.
But for principals like Christopher Young, Sean D鈥橝breu, and Kelly Frycz, prioritizing time to give lessons in the classroom is an essential means of staying onnected to students and teachers and understanding the difficulties of teaching in the new educational environments created by the pandemic.
鈥淚 have never been a teacher post-pandemic. I鈥檝e only been in administration and [teaching is] way different than it was seven years ago when I became an administrator,鈥� said D鈥橝breu, a seventh-year principal of Helendale Primary School in Rochester, N.Y., who makes a habit of teaching a lesson in a classroom every six days.
A June 2020 special report from Education Week suggests most teachers would agree. They reported becoming more creative, adaptable, and sympathetic to family situations as they dealt with the fallout from COVID-19 and the transition to and from remote instruction.
鈥淚f I鈥檝e been in [the teacher鈥檚] shoes, even for half the day, I have a little bit more perspective on my decisions and the impact,鈥� D鈥橝breu said. 鈥淚 start the year by saying, 鈥業 have been a teacher, but I have never been a teacher this school year, so I鈥檓 going to need your help to understand it.鈥欌��
Building relationships inside the classroom
The need to build鈥攁nd rebuild鈥攔elationships drove the return to the classroom for Christopher Young, a fifth-year principal at North Country Union High School in Newport, Vt., who teaches an elective class at his school every other day. He said his ability to connect with students was sabotaged by the pandemic after only six months in the role.
鈥淚鈥檓 in the parking lot every day, in the hallways, in the cafeteria, in and out of classes, at games and musicals, but I couldn鈥檛 do any of that for a year and a half,鈥� Young said. 鈥淸Teaching] was a way to accelerate that relationship piece, at least with this class of freshmen students. It gave me the ability to really understand where kids are as far as re-engaging in their classrooms.鈥�
Young also cited Vermont鈥檚 new proficiency-based graduation requirement as another reason for wanting to spend some time teaching. The Green Mountain State has led the way in creating a system based on students鈥� mastery of knowledge and skills rather than traditional seat-time requirements. He said with such a large change to the way the school now produces transcripts and understands grading, he needed to get to the heart of the matter鈥攚hat kids are doing on a daily basis.
鈥淗ow are we providing them with feedback on how well they are doing is the part I hadn鈥檛 done as a teacher, and wanted to get back to that,鈥� Young said. 鈥淎s we鈥檙e making systematic changes, I wanted to really understand what it looks like for teachers in the classroom.鈥�
As a result of his experience, Young said his conversations with teachers about curriculum have been much deeper and more informed. He said this has also helped him work with teachers on their pedagogy.
Kelly Frycz, a second-year elementary principal with Union County Public 69传媒 in Monroe, N. C., said in order to ask her teaching staff to do the work, she needs to be willing to do it, too. Before serving as principal, Frycz was an instructional coach with the same school and held the same philosophy.
鈥淵ou might see me fail, but I鈥檒l still try it out because kids are our center focus,鈥� Frycz said. 鈥淚f kids are what we鈥檙e all in this business for, no matter what position you鈥檙e in, you should be willing to get kids to grow.鈥�
D鈥橝breu said for him, being in the classroom with teachers is vital for setting his expectations for each subject and how it should be taught.
鈥淚鈥檒l schedule out time with [new staff] and show them what my expectations are for writing, and then I鈥檓 able to model and they鈥檙e able to give me feedback,鈥� D鈥橝breu said.
He also said that when new programs are piloted, he will first teach the lesson according to the new guidelines, then observe teachers the following year. D鈥橝breu said this gives him a better perspective on what he is asking his teachers to do in adapting to new techniques.
A supportive administrative team
Young, Frycz, and D鈥橝breu all said they have supportive administrative teams who work behind the scenes to ensure they鈥檙e able to spend time in classrooms. Young, a former English teacher, said when teaching his 70-minute class, his support staff keeps the school running.
鈥淭he only reason I can do it is because I have an amazing team of administrators that are willing to pick up the slack when I鈥檓 actually teaching,鈥� Young said. 鈥淭hey see the benefit of it, so we鈥檙e trying to figure out a way for them to do it as well to see if we can take turns and rotate.鈥�
D鈥橝breu blocks out time on his calendar to teach a lesson every six days. If the school is short on substitutes, he will fill in the whole day or split the day with the other administrators in the building.
Frycz said she鈥檚 still trying to find her footing in balancing teaching and administrative duties since starting as principal last year, but during her time as assistant principal, she often went into the classrooms at each grade level, depending on the teacher鈥檚 preference.
鈥淚 created Google Forms where teachers could sign up for me to come in and teach, do interactive writing, do a read-aloud, or math problem solving,鈥� Frycz said. 鈥淵ou can have something as detailed as that system to make sure you鈥檙e teaching instruction, or it can just be when you鈥檙e walking through classrooms [you take] teaching opportunities.鈥�
A call for all administrators to teach
All three principals said they encourage their peers in administration to try and teach as well. They all said it鈥檚 an important aspect of the position to not only connect with students and teachers, but remain at the heart of the job鈥攕erving children.
鈥淲e have a lot on our plate as principals鈥攅specially if you鈥檙e the only admin in the building鈥攂ut we can all probably find 45 minutes a week to get into a classroom,鈥� D鈥橝breu said. 鈥淚f you do that throughout the whole year, chances are you鈥檒l be able to hit a huge part of your school, and it makes a difference. People talk about it.鈥�
鈥淚 would certainly highly recommend it, but I know it鈥檚 not easy to make yourself [unavailable to the rest of the building] for 70 minutes every other day, plus prep and planning,鈥� Young said. 鈥淲ithin my own team, I would highly encourage them to do it.鈥�
Said Frycz: 鈥淜ids are why we鈥檙e here, so why are we not teaching kids?鈥�
